Any tips on turning cedar?

[Gary Baler]

Dan,
I just finished turning 22 bowls from green juniper (Colorado Cedar). They range in size from 8" to 16". 5 have cracks, (but they will be saleable) the rest are going to be ok. I've turned a lot of cedar and it works fine if you cut the bowl in one session and keep your walls thin and even all the way through ... including the bottom. You don't want to leave it on the lathe ... period. Turn it, sand it and put a finish on it.

The only finish I've found to work well on cedar is lacquer. I use rattle cans ... and apply 2 coats of sanding sealer ... sand between coats... and finish it with 3 or 4 coats of gloss lacquer. Oil finishes create nothing but problems over thelong haul with cedar.

You can sand it down pretty good on the lathe, but you'll still get some trouble spots you can't sand out. I've found I can usually clean those up with a few minutes of hand sanding with the grain.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Good luck ... you should get some fabulous end results.

[Sid Matheny]

I love cedar but it hates me! Even with a respirator it will take me a week to get over turning it. Cedar can dry rather quickly so don't leave it on the lathe overnight.


Sid

[Aric Krueger]

Most of the cedar I have access to in California is Incense Cedar. It is soft and cracks easily. It also makes me sneeze like nothing I've ever experienced before (even though I wear a respirator. I don't want to imagine what would happen if I wasn't wearing a respirator! If I use it, it is for decoration, accent pieces or other outdoor items as it is naturally rot and insect resistant.

[Garth Sheane]

I have a small supply of aromatic cedar, not enough for anything but small bowls. The color won't hold for any oil based finish in my experience. What I've done with a cedar peppermill is coat it with water based varathane, then top coat it with WOP or Tung Oil and that seems to hold the color.

I'm doing a large yellow cedar burl bowl right now, and just finished a red cedar burl. I really like the look of the red cedar after it is oiled ... almost like flames.